BILL LEVY (WILLIAM LAURENCE) + TENZING THARKAY
PG | COMPLETE
Tharkay’s broken foot and Bill’s lack of “netflix and chill” knowledge.
It could have been worse, Tenzing reminded himself. A fibula fracture was bad, yes, and being stuck in a cast for six weeks was going to be less than ideal, but it could have been the tibia, too. Then it would have been surgery and screws and plates and major pain medication and all that sort of fun.
And he had help, thankfully. Getting around his own house by himself when he couldn't put any weight on one leg would have been extremely difficult. Staying in Bill’s ground-floor guest room and letting him take care of things like making dinner, however, would make these first few days significantly more pleasant than they might have been.
If it weren't for the constant dull ache in his ankle and the occasional itch under the cast, this would really be rather nice. Tenzing had gotten comfortable on the sofa (with his foot elevated, of course), he had a cup of tea, and he had his best friend’s company. Yes, things certainly could have been worse.
It had been no debate for Bill to just simply drive Tenzing to his own home, compared to taking him to his house. He had been there when the doctor gave the orders to stay off of it, and knew full well that it’d be near impossible for Tenzing to do that by himself. Bill had next to no faith that Isabela would help, and enough room to entertain a friend with little-to-no issues.
Not to mention, Tim had been overjoyed with the idea. He liked having more people in the house, especially people that were willing to talk video games and mathematics with him. After such a lively conversation and a couple games of fortnite, he’d gone to bed, leaving them with peace and quiet. Tea was made and the remote was placed near Tenzing, while Bill sat on the floor near his friend’s cast, sharpie in hand. He grinned up at his friend. “For every 5 minutes you don’t pick something on Netflix, I’m going to write an inspirational quote.”
“You just want an excuse to show off how much poetry you know!” Tenzing laughed. “It had better be something good. I'm picky about my television, but I'm not sure it's worth having some 'live, laugh, love’ nonsense written on my leg.” He probably should've gotten a black cast. They were tougher to write on. That would have saved him both Bill’s inspirational quotes and whatever number of dicks Isabela tried to draw on it.
“While tempting,” Bill gave Tenzing another grin, “I don't know if I could fit my favorites. So it'll have to be something obnoxious. ‘Dance like no one's watching, love like you've never been hurt…’” He snorted at the ridiculousness of it, especially given Tenzing couldn't walk right now, let alone dance. “I'll save that one for when you're on your feet again.”
A survey of the cast in front of him did make him roll his eyes, however. “Would you like me to scribble over the crude male anatomy on here?”
“Did she get a dick on there already?” Tenzing laughed, and then sighed, an interesting combination of amused, annoyed, and impressed. “She dropped in for maybe half an hour! How in the hell did she manage to draw a dick on my cast in that little time? Sneaky bastard. Anyway, go on and leave it. Maybe it’ll horrify some good Christian mothers at the grocery store.”
While Tenzing wasn’t one to draw dicks on everything himself, there was a reason he got along so well with his receptionist. They both had a certain propensity for trolling the masses. Given how rarely she actually did her job effectively, hiring Isabela had been more like hiring a court jester, if court jesters flashed a lot more cleavage.
Bill raised an eyebrow, but went back to his own written message without complaint. He couldn’t let it pass without at least one deadpan joke, though. “Might offend a few artists, as well, with how badly drawn it is.” Truth be told, he was someone who would blush and a moment of horrification over it, if he had been presented with the picture outside his own house and with anyone that wasn’t his best friend.
But it was Tenzing, and Isabela still made him just jealous enough that he often did a lot of re-thinking when it came to said-best friend. If he appreciated her bawdy humor so much, surely Bill’s own “prudish” nature was annoyingly innocent? Against his better judgement, he ventured a little more into her territory. “It’s not like any penis I’ve seen, anyway.”
“Until the other night, I never would have guessed you’d seen any other than your own,” Tenzing remarked, sounding significantly more nonchalant than he felt. There hadn’t been an opportunity to talk about that particular revelation since he’d had it. In the moment they’d both been drunk, and afterward Tenzing had been busy overthinking the matter. Now it seemed he had an opening to discuss this casually and not make it immediately obvious that he’d been mooning over Bill for a few years now. “I suppose this is what happens when two reserved, private people become friends--we can go however long it is we’ve been friends now without ever mentioning ‘by the way, I’m bisexual’ or anything like that.”
That was short lived, he thought, as a blush crept up his cheeks. He remembered their conversation from that night, and how ridiculous he had sounded, but he’d made no move to tell Tenzing to forget about it, because that seemed even more ridiculous when he could trust Tenzing with any secrets he had.
“You know I tend to be terrible at talking about my past. Even with you.” Even with his moment of sass, he still took to writing something unreasonably sweet on the back of the cast, where it wouldn’t be as easy for Tenzing to see it. “I’ve also always had a difficult time defining my sexuality, which hasn’t helped things. I wasn’t trying to hide things from you on purpose.”
“Oh, I didn’t think you were,” Tenzing said. “Sometimes things just...don’t come up.” He shrugged. “I don’t know that I ever said anything about myself, either, for more or less the same reasons. So don’t go thinking I was accusing you of dishonesty or anything. I just found it funny, that’s all--that we could be as close as we are for as long as we’ve been and just never mention something most people consider fairly important.”
“I don’t think it’s as important in some ways, and more important in others.” Which was a confusing statement in itself. Bill finished writing and glanced up with a wry smile. “I’ve always wanted Tim to know that no matter what choices he makes in life - save things that would make him a truly terrible person, which I don’t see happening - that I support and love him. But I’m also terrible at not sounding awkward and out of place for those conversations, so I try to spare myself with others.”
He slipped back onto the couch next to Tenzing, at a respectable distance. “Have you chosen a show yet? I’m going to force you to watch Charmed if not.”
“Charmed?” Tenzing gave him a withering look. “I’m pretty sure forcing me to watch Charmed is a violation of the Geneva Convention or the Eighth Amendment or something of that nature.”
The threat was effective, though, and made him scroll through options a little faster--despite the fact that he was fairly sure it was as much an attempt to dodge serious conversation about sexuality as it was impatience with Tenzing’s neverending perusing of the available options. “All right, Great British Baking Show. Is that acceptable?”
Bill was quite proud of his threat, and it showed on his face. He nodded in agreement and pulled a pillow across to rest his arms on. “More than acceptable. I think it was on the top three of shows that Buzzfeed suggested for Netflix and Chill.”
A perfectly innocent statement, so casually said as he settled back onto the couch. If it were anyone different, one might assume he knew the true meaning of “Netflix and Chill” and was merely pretending to be innocent about it, but the actuality of it was that he was oblivious to it’s real meaning, never having looked into it that far.
Another person would have laughed, but Tenzing was seldom the laugh-out-loud type. The same feeling of amusement resulted in a half smile and a raised eyebrow on his face. “I take it nobody’s told you that ‘Netflix and chill’ is this generation’s ‘come inside and have a coffee,’ eh?”
Bill had to know that one, right? Surely he couldn’t have missed the fact that nobody actually invited someone into their apartment to actually have coffee.
“Uh-” The embarrassment was clear, as his face flushed red. His hand reached up to rub against the back of his neck and he definitely got the meaning. It may have taken a moment, but he got it. “Ah- no. Indeed they did not. I assumed from the internet’s understanding that it simply meant “netflix and hang out”.” He laughed, awkwardly, and tried to make light of his embarrassment with a stupid joke.
“You’re clearly not up to anything more than that, anyway.” Oof, that one was a mistake, as it left him with a what if in the back of his brain.
That had to just be an off-hand remark, right? A comment on the current state of Tenzing’s health, that was all. It was just a throwaway line, completely innocent and implying nothing.
On the other hand, Tenzing couldn’t help but remember the way Bill had looked at him when the gin was overriding his better judgment. Emboldened by that thought, he attempted making a dry joke of the matter.
“Oh, I think I could at least manage ‘Netflix and make out,’ though afterward I might need to take one of those Tylenol 3 the orthopedist gave me,” he lightly replied.
Oh, bother. Now Bill was clearing his throat, having lost the battle of the wills. Tenzing could definitely talk circles around him when it came to dry humor, as much as he tried. “I’m not going to be responsible for causing you pain, in any way.” Bill managed both a serious expression and a soft smile, not at all ashamed of being the first to give up on their joking around.
Reaching over, he snagged the remote from his friend’s hand and hit play, hoping he didn’t look like too much of a coward.
That, Tenzing couldn’t help but notice, was not a refusal. It wasn’t even a joke. It was quite clearly an ‘I’d be up for it if you weren’t broken at the moment,’ and that left Tenzing momentarily speechless. Rather than thinking Bill a coward, he thought (not for the first time) that Bill was actually much braver than he was in some ways. Tenzing could fly in the face of convention and troll the community with his irrepressible receptionist and make little sideways jokes about what he wanted, but Bill could be sincere. That took more nerve than Tenzing had, most of the time.
Tenzing didn’t know what to say, not in the least. Usually his response to that was to simply go on saying nothing. That tended to go better than stumbling over himself trying to find the right words. If he didn’t do something now, though, he was afraid he’d lose the one chance he had at making this anything other than a bit of joking around. So, feeling a bit like he was in high school and still trying to figure out flirting, Tenzing leaned over to pick up the pillow from the chair his foot was elevated on.
“Can I at least use your lap for elevating my leg, then?” he asked.
“Most definitely.” With that, Bill let out whatever breath he was holding, shoulders relaxing a little now. He leaned back into the pillows behind him and allowed Tenzing to settle his foot as comfortably as possible. “And,” He smiled, tossing the remote to the side. “With all luck, I won’t get as rambunctious with this as I do with Chopped.”